


Guilty Pleasures

by hexmaniacchoco



Category: Supernatural
Genre: "it's for a case", Castiel Reads Fanfiction, Guilty Pleasures, M/M, POV Castiel, but definitely not because he wants to or anything because come on that'd be ridiculous
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2019-04-01 01:37:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13987698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hexmaniacchoco/pseuds/hexmaniacchoco
Summary: When Cas find a fanfic using a few details from a case they'd worked a week ago, he worries that someone may be stalking the three of them and sets out to discover who the author is with the help of Sam and Dean. You know. Without them knowing he was the one who found it. Because he doesn't read fanfiction of their lives.





	1. Chapter 1

_“Dean, I think we’re being targeted.”_   
  
_“Don’t worry Cas. Some people don’t got anything better to do than judge others--”_   
  
_“That’s not what I meant.”_   
  
_A small blush crept across Dean’s cheeks, and he hoped it went unnoticed. “O-oh,” he stammered. Cas removed his hand from where it had rested (comfortably, in Dean’s opinion) on Dean’s side and placed it on his shoulder instead. Dean ignored how the spot on his side where Cas’ hand had been was colder for the loss of Cas’ warmth, in order to ask the pertinent, “You mean the… you know”. He gestured with his hand, his voice lowered so the surrounding couples wouldn’t overhear them._   
  
_“Yes,” Cas confirmed, his eyes locked onto Dean’s, making it that much harder for Dean to keep track of what he was saying. Dean forced his eyes down, where they landed on his lips instead, the resulting panic of which nearly caused him to miss what Cas said next._   
  
_“However, it may still be undecided. We should do something to ensure it chooses us.”_   
  
_Dean furrowed his brow, confused at what more they needed to do to pretend to be a couple for this case. They’d held hands, called each other things like ‘honey’ and ‘babe’, they were slow dancing now. Granted they hadn’t told each other “I love you”, but Dean didn’t want to use that up on some case under false pretenses. Instead, he chose to let his eyes say it. Cas never questioned it though, so maybe that’s what he meant? He watched Cas carefully trying to figure it out, but Cas was acting strangely flustered._   
  
_“Cas? What do you mean?” Dean asked, deciding it had to be the “I love you” but not knowing why Cas seemed so shy about it._   
  
_Cas finally managed to look him in the eye, though it didn’t last long. “I mean…” he started, his eyes trailing back down to Dean’s lips. And that’s when Dean got it, which was also at the same time Cas decided to lean forward and softly, hesitantly press his lips to Dean’s._   
  
_And Dean melted._

* * *

  
Cas swallows before hesitantly scrolling down to read the next part.

* * *

  
_“I love you.”_   
  
_The words slipped out of Dean’s mouth almost breathlessly when they pulled away, even despite his previous reservations about using such a phrase for something like this. But he meant it. He knew the kiss was just for the case, even if it felt real and had his heart racing and lips tingling and all his senses save for the feeling of it gone, but all the same he said it. He watched Cas closely, gauging his reaction, trying to see if he figured it out or if he thought Dean had just rolled with it. Cas’ eyes were wide, and hell if it didn’t look like he was trying to read Dean too. He licked his lips, and Dean had to resist kissing him again. Finally, Cas spoke up._   
  
_“Then… last week… when we were working the shifter case…”_

* * *

  
Cas’ heart jumps at the sentence he reads. They actually had worked a case involving shapeshifters last week. It’s an uncanny coincidence, though of course this story’s case must have gone much different if it involved anything regarding possible love confessions. He continues reading.

* * *

  
_Dean gulped; he knew what Cas was asking about. He’d said it to Cas because Cas needed to finally understand he was loved. But part of him had also wanted Cas not to learn just how_ much _because he was afraid. He was afraid if Cas knew, he wouldn’t love Dean back, not in the same way. If he knew, it’d ruin everything they had between them already. Or if he knew, then it’d amount to Dean having actually admitted it. But there was something in Cas’ eyes, the way he was looking at Dean, almost hopeful. It gave Dean a brief swell of courage. So he sucked in a breath and told him, “When I said you’re irreplaceable to us, to me. Yeah. I meant every word of it Cas.”_

* * *

  
Cas wonders if he misread something, and rereads the sentence. When he’s ascertained it is how he’d read it, he reads on, a mix of hope and dread filling him in equal measure. Because that is something Dean had told him. It had to be a coincidence.

* * *

  
Cas smiled, and it made Dean’s night. A weird thing happened, and the case, the other couples around them, even the schmoopy love song playing in the background, it all disappeared. There was only him and Cas. High on the good mood being made, he closed the already shortened distance between them once more for another kiss. They took their time with this one, relishing the moment. When they pulled away again, Dean couldn’t help a smirk. He was about to make a comment about netflix, but all words were lost when he saw the sheer amount of love shining in Cas’ eyes. His own eyes softened and the smirk fell into a grin.   
  
_Cas cleared his throat and looked down. “You know, Dean, when you told me that it had me wondering… and once we were back in the motel room, after Sam had left to get the pizza, I very nearly asked you about it. But I hesitated, and he returned so much faster than expected… ”_

* * *

  
Cas stares at those words for a few long moments, trying to gauge the likelihood it was a coincidence that this fanfiction mentioned a shapeshifter case they worked a week ago, getting something Dean had told him almost perfectly correct, and then being accurate about them returning to the motel and Sam leaving to get pizza but returning earlier than expected. It doesn’t take too long for him to think they might have a stalker. He sighs. This was something he should probably bring up to the brothers, but how could he do that without admitting he’d sought these kinds of stories out for himself to read…?

* * *

  
“Sam. Dean.”  
  
Sam and Dean look up from where they’re having breakfast in the kitchen.  
  
“I uh… I’ve received an e-mail… from someone who claims that we might have someone following us around and spying on us,” Cas continues pretending his was looking on his phone in order to avoid making eye contact with either of them.  
  
He watches as they exchange a brief concerned glance before regarding him again.  
  
“What makes this person so sure we’re being followed?” Sam asks, taking a skeptical bite of his pancake.  
  
“They have evidence,” Cas answers.  
  
“What kind of evidence?”  
  
“They sent me a… a um... “  
  
“Spit it out, Cas,” Dean says in between bacon, “They sent you a what?”  
  
“You’re both familiar with the book series Chuck wrote about the things we did,” Cas rambles, not wanting to get to the point especially after noting the dread that immediately appeared on either brother’s face. “Well, I was sent a… a fanfiction, from someone… and they highlighted a part that mentions details of a case we worked last week.”  
  
Dean appears to choke on his food for a moment, but regains himself before Cas can feel concerned. His eyebrows knit together. “Like what?”  
  
“Like the fact it was a case involving a shifter, and some things Dean told me, and…” Cas stops himself there, realizing if he mentioned the motel they’d likely question how this mysterious sender knew about it themselves. “And it might be good to be extra vigilant on the next case in the event this person follows us again. It’s possible for them to get hurt by whatever we’re hunting.”  
  
“Yeah or by us once we find ‘em,” Dean states in a confident tone, though he looks uncomfortable.  
  
Sam gives him a disapproving look.  
  
“Dean.”  
  
“What?”  
  
Sam’s expression falls into what Cas has long since learned is called a “bitchface”. He rolls his eyes when Dean continues to ignore him, and turns back to Cas. “Well, can we see the e-mail, and the link to the fanfic?”  
  
“I deleted it.”  
  
“What?! Why?” Sam asks him.  
  
“Obviously it was an accident, Sam,” Cas replies, feigning irritation in the hopes it makes his answer more convincing. “But we know about it now, and can look out for any suspicious individuals around us.”  
  
Sam still looks displeased, and Dean is shaking his head. Sam sighs. “Yeah, I… guess you’re right.”  
  
Happy with his success, Cas changes the subject before any other questions can be asked.  
  
“Dean, I came across a new pie recipe you might enjoy.”


	2. Chapter 2

After a week or so, they find another case and Cas reminds himself to keep an eye out for anything strange. This case isn’t too far and is almost certainly just a ghost, so only Dean and Cas go while Sam chooses to stay back and look through the Men of Letters’ archives. The case does turn out to be a ghost, and it’s easily dispatched. They don’t stay in the town for more than a day before returning back to the bunker. Nothing had been out of place, and Cas never sensed anyone following them, though there were a few locals at the diner that gave the both of them wary looks. Cas had kept careful track of their conversation while there in case any part of it showed up in a new fanfiction, but otherwise he thought they were more likely suspicious of why two FBI agents showed up in their small town to listen to a drunkard’s story about ghosts. For now, Cas would wait for the author’s next story.   
  


* * *

  
When more than two weeks goes by and nothing else is posted, Cas starts to think that maybe it was a coincidence after all. They’d gone on several more cases, and each time there had been absolutely no one Cas could sense who’d been tailing them. Not anyone they weren’t hunting, in any case. But he highly doubted the two vampires trying to set up an ambush for them were the ones writing these fanfiction. A few of the cases Sam stayed at the bunker, and Dean and Cas handled it themselves. They should have been the perfect opportunities for this author to get information to write a story with just the two of them; he and Dean finding themselves with alone time was a popular theme it seemed to Cas, after all. But still there was nothing. After the third week, Cas decides to bring it up with Sam and Dean once more with the hopes that telling them the matter’s settled will keep them from asking him about it again. He finds them both in the library, looking for new cases, and clears his throat to get their attention. They look up.    
  
“Find something, Cas?” Dean asks.    
  
“No. Well, yes. But not a case,” he replies.    
  
Sam cocks his head to the side.    
  
“Oh, then what’d you find?”    
  
“The answer to whether or not a fan of the book series has been following us,” Cas answers simply. He doesn’t want to appear to be in a hurry, as he learned that only makes others more suspicious of you, so he waits for them to prompt him for more information.    
  
They both look uncomfortable now, possibly because they’re expecting it to be true.    
  
“And?” Sam asks, .    
  
“I’m certain now that no one is following us. The previous similarities were just that--coincidence, and nothing else.”    
  
Cas is happy to see the looks of relief wash over their faces. He’s about to ask if they’ve had any luck with cases, when Dean suddenly asks him a question.    
  
“What makes you sure it was just a coincidence?”    
  
His voice is wary, and while Cas knows he probably just wants to be sure, part of him fears Dean’s somehow found out his enjoyment of fanfiction. Cas chooses his words carefully, with the intention of getting them to drop it completely.    
  
“I had been watching both the author and our surroundings on every case we’d gone on. Not only was there no one following us, but the author posted a few new stories over the past few weeks, and none of them were remotely the same as anything we’ve done or said,” he lies. Partially lies. The first sentence is true at least, and he lets his confidence in saying it carry over into the rest.    
  
So of course Sam makes things harder.    
  
“Wait a second. What about the motel stuff? Was that really a coincidence? Because I agreed with you that it sounded a little too accurate,” he asks, narrowing his eyes.    
  
“Yeah, you did say it was practically word-for-word, Cas,” Dean agrees.    
  
They both look nervous again, and Cas tries to think of something to say, fast.    
  
“Oh. Yes. It turns out I had been wrong...” he slowly replies. It’s another lie. Truthfully, the spike of tension he’d felt when he’d first read it had faded over the weeks, and in his recent anticipation of ensuring he brothers never question him further about it, he’d forgotten almost entirely. Now that Sam brought it up again though, it persisted at the back of his mind. Still, if anything else did come up, he’d handle it himself. For now though, he was fairly certain that there really wasn’t an issue after all.    
  
Sam and Dean glance at each other, and it looks like Cas has to elaborate on his explanation.    
  
“After I read the newer stories and they proved to be unrelated to our cases, I looked through the one I had been sent again. When I read those parts that caused me concern, they turned out not to be as accurate as I had thought. I… must have let myself become biased towards the sender’s suspicions and misunderstood. It did have some similarity, but was not actually close enough to be a problem after all.”    
  
Dean leans back in his chair. “So uh… What were these fanfics you read, Cas? Some hot action between you and Sam?” he teases.    
  
Aside from it feeling like Cas’ heart had stopped the brief moment before Dean said the “hot action” was between Sam and himself, and the clear lack of amusement in Sam, the atmosphere was more relaxed now, and what was more, Cas found the perfect way to end this conversation once and for all. He turns to leave but looks back at Dean, looking him square in the eye. 

  
“No,” he says cooly. “It was ‘hot action’ between  _ yourself _ and Sam.”    
  
He enjoys the discomforted expression Dean makes (though he does feel bad for Sam, unfairly caught in the hypothetical crossfire and currently making the same face) before heading back to his room.    
  


* * *

  
Later that evening, Cas receives a notification that a new fanfiction was just posted by the author he’d been watching. He clicks the link, now that he can enjoy reading it without the worry that it’s a problem. It’s short and has an explicit rating. He makes sure no one else is nearby before clicking past the warning,and reads the tags. “PWP” is the first one listed, which he’s come to understand stands for “porn without plot”, followed by a few other tags presumably related to it. It’s not the first time Cas has read a fanfiction that includes pornographic content of himself and Dean, but even so, he feels a buzz of nervous, guilty excitement running through him as he continues reading the tags.    
  
Until he reads the summary and the suspicion returns, gnawing at him. It’s about Dean and him watching anime together on Dean’s laptop, in Dean’s room, until they put it to the side and the “without plot” part of the fanfiction begins. Aside from the extra activity, it’s a thing he and Dean do often. And Dean isn’t outspoken about his interest in it, either. Every time Cas inquires whether Sam might like to join them, Dean tells him how Sam wouldn’t appreciate it. Then again, outside of Sam’s reported criticism, it seems to be a popular form of media, so it’s possible it really is just a coincidence. With some hesitation, Cas reads the fanfiction.    
  


* * *

  
_ Dean paused in the doorway to the library, taking a moment to watch Cas flipping through one of the archived books, shivering a little when he licked a finger to facilitate the turning of a more stubborn page.  _ __  
__  
_ Finally, “Hey, Cas. You wanna watch more space cowboys with me?”  _ __  
  


* * *

  
Cas narrows his eyes at the text. “Space cowboys” is how Dean often refers to an anime he always asks Cas to join him watch, because of the catchphrase at the end of each episode. But Cas also knows this is a very popular anime, and from what he’s seen of it, he could see a fan deciding it’d be one that Dean watches. He relaxes a little and keeps reading.   
  


* * *

  
_ “Perhaps later Dean. Right now I’m helping Sam with some research,” Cas answered, without so much as a glance up from his book.  _ __  
__  
_ Dean frowned and chewed the bottom of his lip for a moment. “Come on, Cas. It can wait for one or two episodes.”  _ __  
__  
_ “I’m sorry, Dean, but it’s important.”  _ __  
__  
_ “Yeah I get that, but so is taking a break every once in a while. You two’ve been at it for the past few hours. Sam’s going running or something so you might as well,” he tried. He heard a small sigh from Cas, and then… success! Cas closed the book and put it to the side. Dean was sure he saw him trying to hide a smile as well, a thought that made his heart flutter.  _ __  
__  
_ “So what are you nerds researching anyway?” Dean asked, trying to keep his mind from wandering.  _ __  
__  
_ “We’re looking up the Men of Letters’ information on monsters you’ve both face in the past who were challenging to defeat. He also thinks he’s found us a case with an encantado, and--”  _ __  
__  
_ “A what?”  _ __  
  


* * *

  
Cas remembered explaining this to Dean, telling him of the research he and Sam were doing, and telling him what an encantado is. There was no way whoever wrote this wrote it by chance… but these were conversations that happened in the bunker, where they would almost certainly notice someone following them. So did that… mean that one of the brothers was the author…? And if that was the case, which one? And more importantly, how could he find out without them catching on to him, or should he even start investigating this? 

**Author's Note:**

> This is for [spncoldesthits](http://spncoldesthits.tumblr.com/post/171971789300/spncoldesthits-guilty-pleasures-march-prompt)!


End file.
